


Perfection

by RedTeamShark



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Author Chose Not To Warn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-07 07:29:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16849741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: Ray’s perfectionism with gaming seems to be turning on him. Of course, his friends and coworkers can’t help but notice his lack of enthusiasm and take it upon themselves to get the youngest Achievement Hunter back on task.





	Perfection

**Author's Note:**

> Proper warnings, tags, etc, may come in the future. For the time being I'm frantically transferring my content to a stable platform amidst growing concerns about tumblr's inevitable implosion.
> 
> Apologies for flooding the fandom page.

At first he laughs it off, joking around that the only reason he’s so good at games is because he’s terrible at literally everything else. He makes the self-depreciating jokes both in person and in the comments section of the videos, calling himself a loser and an asshole, pointing out every one of his flaws. But he’s still good at games, still gets jealous or angry comments from the others when he’s better than them—beating Ryan at a PC game in Versus, besting Jack at a fighting game, being the one to carry Team Lads to victory on multiple occasions, and even beating Geoff’s high scores in Peggle the first time he touches the game. As the comments about his skills become more and more frequent, he hears less praise in them, more bitterness and anger.

He considers it during sleepless nights, mindlessly grinding through zombie kills for achievement points and focusing more on what’s happening inside his own head than what’s happening on the screen. Ray supposes that he could tone it down, could start to lose on purpose. It’s boring when he wins all the time, everyone thinks so. He might not be serious when he says that video games are all he’s good at, but they’re for damn sure one of the only things he really enjoys. He doesn’t want to let his enjoyment, which often stems from victory, cost him his job… or his friends.

So he tones it down. He throws the next Versus match against Gavin, declaring about how he’s so terrible at games and can’t manage anything right. He lets Michael and Gavin take the lead on their cooperative games, following orders quietly, occasionally offering a humorous quip but no longer taking a leadership role.

It works for a while. He doesn’t enjoy it, doesn’t enjoy losing and definitely doesn’t enjoy the looks of confusion and concern he gets when he fails at something he’d normally succeed at, but it’s worth the small bit of unhappiness for, among other things, keeping his job. He laughs off the concern, assuring the others that it just isn’t his day this time and that he’ll be back on his game at a later date.

And then it happens.

They’re playing a new map in Call of Duty, a game which is definitively his forte, and he’s toning it down as always, letting his other team mates shine on their own instead of carrying them through the mission. He goes down with a yell of frustration, offering thanks when Gavin picks him up from his downed state. He falls again mere seconds after being revived, groaning in annoyance and seeing Michael’s sidelong glance of concern as the man next to him runs his character over for the revival.

The third time Ray goes down, Geoff looks over his shoulder to ask if something’s wrong. The Puerto Rican waves him off, assuring that he’s just having an off day and he’ll be back on his game after lunch. He doesn’t see the look that Gavin and Geoff exchange behind him, instead looking at his screen as it rapidly becomes black and white. When the game wraps up almost everyone leaves for lunch, Gavin lingering in the office with Ray, offering a smile.

“Hey, man, what are you doing for lunch?” He questions, rolling his chair over and resting his chin on Ray’s shoulder with a lazy smile.

“I dunno, I was just going to go home, eat something quick, and take a nap…” Ray shrugs, glancing over his shoulder with a slight frown. “Why, you want to go somewhere?”

“Nah, I brought food. So, what’s on your mind?”

He tries to ignore how observant Gavin is, tries not to think about all the little things the Brit had probably noticed and just never spoken of. Instead he offers a smile, waving him off. “Nothing serious, just… bad day, you know?”

“Mmm…” Gavin sits back, rolling his chair back to his desk and standing with a stretch and a yawn. “Well, hey, if you wanna talk…”

“Nothing to talk about.” Ray forces himself to his feet, grabbing his backpack and heading for the door. “I’ll see you after lunch, alright?”

He tries to ignore the eyes on the back of his head as he hurries from the office and across the street. He’ll have a quick lunch and then take a nap, and he’ll feel better about his decision to tone down the perfectionism after that.

–

The nap helps, which is a plus. He doesn’t necessarily feel better, but he’s not as worried about the others noticing as he was before lunch. Gavin probably won’t say anything, anyways. It’s Gavin, after all…

No one acts different when he comes back from lunch, though. There’s a handful of people in the office when he comes back and Ray smiles and greets them all, settling into the conversation as normal, joking and laughing. It’s like nothing is wrong for a while, right up until it’s time to start recording for the next let’s play and everyone settles into ‘business mode’ (as much business as six grown men playing video games together can get, anyways).

They’re mid-game and Ray is barely looking at the screen, doing his best not to show off too much. It’s difficult, because they’re playing Halo and, like just about everyone else at the company, he loves Halo. But he’s determined not to be the asshole that shows off so much, not to be the guy that everyone hates for being too perfect.

“Ah, fuck me, I’m dead, I’m dead.” He declares, running his character away from Michael’s assault, practically wedging himself under Gavin’s vehicle. “Holy fuck, I actually am dead. Fuck me.”

“You keep saying that and someone’s gonna take it as an invitation.” Geoff warns as he watches the respawn screen. Everyone laughs and Ray nods.

“Yeah, well, stick it in me. Ladies and dudes and ladies with strap-ons welcome.” More laughter from the room before Ray turns back to the game, settling in with a small sigh.

“You feeling alright, X-Ray?” Gavin asks from the other side of the room, looking over to the younger man while waiting out his own respawn.

“Still fine, Gavin.” Ray answers through gritted teeth, trying to dodge Ryan’s sniper rifle rounds. “Thanks for as—son of a bitch!”

Ryan chuckles as the kill cam plays, his laughter cutting off when he notices the kill feed indicating that Jack took Ray out. “What the hell happened, man?”

“Ray didn’t notice me, so I shot him point blank with a shotgun.” Jack explains, laughing a little. “Didn’t think I’d ever get the drop on you, Ray.”

“Yeah, man, real funny…” The Puerto Rican mutters, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He’s not going to be the asshole that always plays to win, he’s not, he’s not—

But being the guy that’s suddenly the laughing stock, coming in sixth place with only three kills and nine deaths, isn’t exactly fun. And the real concern in Geoff’s voice while they’re loading up the next round just makes him want to bury his face in his arms and hide.

“Ray, are you feeling alright? We can postpone this one if you’re not on your game.” His tattooed boss offers, turning in his chair and eyeing the younger man. “C’mon, the audience wants to see you kicking ass and taking names, not Gaving around.”

“I’m fine, Geoff.” He keeps his eyes on his monitor, fingers running over the controller lightly. “I mean, it’s pretty fun to push my shit in anyways, right? And—“

“And nothing, you’re not playing your best. Quit taking pity on us just because we fucking suck, Ray.” Michael cuts him off, leaning over and nudging his shoulder lightly. “It’s not right.”

The physical push sends him over the emotional edge, his hands tightening on his controller and his eyes screwing shut, something clawing its way up his throat and out of his mouth before he can stop himself.

“It’s not like that, okay?! I don’t want to be the asshole that’s always so perfect that it’s no fun playing with me! I don’t want to be the fucking leader, the winner, the guy that’s always gonna come in first place no matter what we do! It’s boring for the audience and you guys all must seriously hate it, none of you get a chance to show off because oh, fucking go figure, there’s Ray making the rest of you look like shit no matter how good you are and–!”

Before he can continue his rant, there are hands on his shoulders, strong and warm, squeezing lightly. He keeps his eyes closed, trembling under the touch as the hands move to take his controller from him, to squeeze his hands and turn him in his chair and it takes him longer than it should to realize that the hands are still on his shoulders.

He opens his eyes when he feels warmth on the top of his head, tilting his head back and coming eye to eye with Geoff, who looks both annoyed and concerned at the same time. “What?” Ray barely manages to whisper out, still distantly aware of the increasing number of people around him and hands on him.

“Do you seriously not know?” Geoff asks, moving his hands from Ray’s shoulders (someone else quickly settles there) and cupping his cheeks, forcing him to keep that steady eye contact. “Are you seriously telling me you don’t know how fucking hot it is to watch you play?”

“How… what…?” The hands on him are a distraction, definitely, especially the warmth against his bare chest and—whoa, when did his shirt get pushed up? Ray tries to focus, tries to understand what’s going on, but the hold on his face releases and he’s suddenly looking forward, looking into Gavin’s eyes, clear and bright and full of a kind of honesty he can’t deny.

“Watching you game is bloody amazing, Ray. You’re so talented and you shouldn’t hold it back just because the rest of us are rubbish.” He whispers, leaning forward, squeezing Ray’s shoulders (he assumes Gavin squeezes, but at this point he’s lost track of who is touching him where, as well as losing track of his shoes, socks, and shorts) as he plants a slow kiss on his lips.

They each move in turn, speaking quietly to him, kissing him and touching him with a kind of tenderness that conveys more than their words. Ryan whispers about how Ray has made gaming fun for him in a way that he didn’t think was possible, Jack talks about how he likes the challenge that Ray brings to games, the friendly competition. Geoff gets his attention again, kissing him lazily with the taste of whiskey in his mouth, reiterating that it’s hot as fucking hell to watch him play.

Michael steps forward last, the other hands leaving him as he’s pulled into the curly-haired man’s lap, cold hands running down his bare skin and settling on his hips, hot lips resting near his ear. “You’re the one that made this job worthwhile to me, Ray. Seeing you, seeing your talents… I’m here because just knowing you and what you can do with a controller in your hand convinced me to take this shot.” He whispers, pulling back to kiss him slowly. Ray stares into his eyes, surprised when Gavin reaches around from behind Michael and strokes a hand down his cheek. He doesn’t realize that the moisture there is from him, is leaking from his brown eyes and blurring his vision around the edges.

The next thing he’s aware of is being on the couch, having Ryan’s arms around him, his legs on either side of the brunette man’s thighs and Ray flushes dark red, realizing just how exposed he is, just how everyone’s eyes are on him. “Uh, guys…”

“Shh.” Geoff commands from his side, stroking  a hand through his hair and kissing his temple. “Just let us show you what you mean to us.”

“If you’re comfortable with it.” Jack adds beside him and when Ray swallows and nods, he can feel Ryan chuckling against his back.

All of their hands are on him again, stroking his bared skin, joined by lips and tongues and the occasional scrape of teeth this time. They continue to whisper their encouragements and praises and it’s the words more than the actions that make him flush, that cause his breath to draw in a little heavier each time, his mind swimming. He tries to grasp the situation, to understand how they’ve gone from recording a Let’s Play to getting ready to fuck him on the couch and holy shit did someone turn the audio off because he doesn’t think any of them are comfortable with a record of this is the door locked is that a hand on his cock?

It’s the last question that he latches onto, letting out his breath in a hiss of surprise, daring a glance down. Michael’s knelt between his legs, one hand confidently wrapped around his dick and stroking slowly, lips running over his inner thigh. Gavin is beside him, nibbling at the jut of Ray’s hip bone and rubbing his knee and he can’t even keep track of where everyone else is, but he feels the tickle of Jack’s beard against his jaw, turns from it with a small snort of surprised laughter only to meet Geoff’s lips with his own.

The hand on his dick, though, that’s what he should be thinking about, not the feeling of hands (Jack or Ryan, talk about same voice he should tell them later how similar their hands feel) rubbing his sides or the taste of alcohol on Geoff’s tongue which is in his  _mouth_. His hips jerk up, a groan leaving him and a shudder running through him, his eyes close and all he has is sensation, warmth around his cock that isn’t a hand but a mouth, it must be Michael, Michael is sucking him off he can’t do this anymore.

“Wait, guys—“ Ray manages to stagger out around a moan and the hands and lips leave him immediately, only Ryan keeping physical contact with him because it’s a bit tough to stop being in someone’s lap. Geoff gently brushes his cheek, pulling his focus in.

“Are you okay?” He asks as the hands slowly come back, Michael’s hand finding his and squeezing, Gavin’s on his knee in a manner that’s comforting instead of sexual. Ryan’s arms are around his waist again, squeezing him into a hug and Jack is resting a hand on his shoulder, a feather-light touch that brings goosebumps to his skin. “We’ll stop if you’re not okay.”

“I… you don’t have to do this…” He manages, closing his eyes tightly and nodding. “You don’t have to make me feel better by… by y’know, this.”

“We want to.” His attention darts down to Michael and the curly-haired man shrugs. “I mean, I want to anyways, and I guess everyone else does, too, or else we’d be at your apartment.”

“I want to.” Gavin adds in quietly, smiling a little. “Team Lads, gotta look out for each other.”

“Not much of an R and R Connection if I can’t make you feel better when you’re down.” Ryan adds, laughing softly and pressing his face to the back of Ray’s neck. “Fuck, that was really lame. Like Lads levels of lame.” Ray feels a tongue against his skin as the older man makes a noise of displeasure. “Fucking alliteration bullshit.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Ray manages to ask, pulling his gaze away from Geoff, looking towards Jack. Somehow it seems like Jack is the one that’ll give him a straight answer in this situation.

The bearded man shrugs, frowning slightly. “Guess we hadn’t thought that far. Anything particular you want?”

A crimson flush lights up his cheeks, crawling down his neck to his chest as he looks among the five of them, all of their eyes on him and he knows, he just knows that they’ll do whatever he wants, he could ask them to fuck him raw and they would, he could ask them to let him go home alone and they would and it’s a weird sort of power, an unusual control to have when he feels so out of control, naked while they’re clothed, confused while they all seem to know what they’re doing.

Ray tips his head back to rest on Ryan’s shoulder, looking at the ceiling and calming himself down, exhaling and inhaling slowly until he feels in control of himself again. “I want you to make me…” He swallows, steadying his voice and looking at each of them before trying again. “Make me feel important. Please.”

“You are important.” Geoff tells him, and then it’s back to just hands and lips on him, sensations overriding everything else in the world.

Ray arches his back, moaning softly and closing his eyes, letting the feelings overtake him. It’s incredible what five people can do when all of their focus is on one person, when there are ten hands to stroke every inch of his skin, five mouths to give light kisses and nips and licks. He’s panting before he knows it, squeezing whoever’s hand is linked with his own, other hand gripping the couch as his legs tremble and a low stream of profanity leaves his lips.

His toes curl, hips jerking up as much as they can in his current position. He tries to cry out a warning but a mouth over his silences him and he just hopes that whoever’s on his cock doesn’t mind too much as he shakes and shudders and moans his way through an orgasm. He can feel them swallowing around him, though, so that’s probably a plus.

When he comes down from the high they’re all still right there, gentle caresses and soft words continuing to heap praise and love onto him. Ray shivers, bringing himself back to the present slowly, meeting Michael’s eyes and watching as the other man slowly wipes a hand against the corner of his mouth, licking off whatever substance had gathered there.

“Feel better?” Geoff asks him quietly and Ray nods, shifting until he’s curled up in Ryan’s lap, head resting on his shoulder.

There’s movement around him but he’s not sure what it means, isn’t sure exactly what’s going on until he’s under a blanket on the couch, arms around him and a strong heartbeat against his ear. He dares to crack an eye open, surprised to find that it’s Jack lying on the couch with him, holding onto him comfortably and smiling a bit. “Good nap?” He questions, moving his arms slightly and letting Ray sit up. He’s got his pants on again, at least, which is a plus.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Not very, maybe half an hour.” Jack sits up slowly as Ray gets unsteadily to his feet, finding his shirt and pulling it back on. “You’re alright, Ray? Really alright?”

He hesitates, looking at his desk and frowning slightly, before turning around. “I… I’m working on it, okay?”

“We’re here for you if you need us.”

And before Jack can say anything else, Michael and Gavin burst into the room, laughing and talking with each other. They spot Ray, easily pulling him into an embrace and then into their conversation. Geoff and Ryan are right behind them, the tattooed man giving Gavin a playful shove before clapping his hands.

“Alright, dickheads, let’s get to work. We gotta refilm that Halo Let’s Play so that we can put it out next week. Fuckin’ computer genius there—“ he jerks a thumb towards Ryan, making a face “—lost all our footage.”

Ray offers Geoff a smile and Ryan a grateful glance, pulling away from Michael and Gavin to settle at his desk again.

What he told Jack was true, he’s working on being okay again. What he didn’t tell him was that now he understands, knows he has someone to go to if he feels down. Well, five someone’s to be precise. And he’ll go to them, if he needs to, he’s not afraid of that anymore.


End file.
